


I'll Turn Your Life to Gold

by Isaac_Kran



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Reality, Angst, Fluff, Fluffy Angst, Important tags wont be tags, Let's have some fun alright?, M/M, Other staff are in here but are only mentioned or have one line, People WILL be OOC, RWBY- Gold, Songfic, This tag is unlocked in a later chapter, at least I think there's some angst, rather they will be in the chapter that needs them, you be the judge - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-04
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-01-14 12:59:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1267438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isaac_Kran/pseuds/Isaac_Kran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>It all started with a dream,  as most stories do...</em>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Gavin Free loved video games, so his thoughts always drifted to one day work for a video game company. In particular, it was always a dream for Gavin to be able to work for the company Roosterteeth. When he finally goes over, he ends up in a relationship with 5 other men in the company. Come along on their adventures.</p><p>-Story/Songfic using the song "Gold" from the RWBY soundtrack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys and gals! I can’t believe I actually managed to make a story from my brain into a tangible form of any kind. Usually, they just stay in my brain forever, never seeing the light of day (sorry every other Idea I ever had…). So this is my first story I’ve EVER written; I was never very confident in myself when it came to writing, so that’s why it has taken so long for me to get to this. 
> 
> Also, forgive me in advance if I end up using more “saids” and other basic words and grammar than you thought possible; For someone whose first language is english, my word bank is lacking quite a few words, or rather, my mind never remembers the awesome words I learn xD (Though I do know the 45-letter word which might as well mean ‘volcano lung disease’... go figure *pst* check the post-notes for the word and it’s literal definition if you’re interested ;P)
> 
> Oh! and please forgive me if anyone in the story seems Out of character: I do have to thank everybody whose stories I have read though: they helped me in at least having some sort of base to go from for everybody's personalities. On the subject of people, in this story, Gavin join’s Achievement Hunters before Michael. And no, I probably won't give very good descriptions of how everyone looks during the story (if anything it will leave what they are wearing to your imagination ;D ), or how their voice sounds (for example, Jack shouting with a deep but jovial sound to his voice… and that example explains why I won’t xD) sorry!
> 
> I might/will be twisting some events compared to how they really transpired in real life(it is an OT6 pairing after all...) so yeah, be prepared for that too!
> 
> *shoos the butterflies floating around him away*  
> Okay now that I’m done my essay of an explanation (stupid nerves...),I hope that you will enjoy my story *deep bow*

_**Dream of anything;** _

It all started with a dream, as most stories do...

Gavin Free loved video games, so his thoughts always drifted to one day work for a video game company. In particular, it was always a dream for Gavin to be able to work for the company Roosterteeth since he first saw the internet series, Red vs. Blue. He never thought anyone would be brave enough to make a series revolving around a video game: he had heard of a few others, but never heard too much about them afterwards. RvB, however, had gained immense popularity: enough that the creators of the series decided to start their own company.

 

_**I’ll make it all come true.** _

Gavin was pretty famous himself: he was part of a youtube duo, known as the Slow Mo Guys, with his long time friend Dan Gruchy. They had fun making slow motion of anything from a ball to the face, to jumping on a 6 foot balloon filled with water. Though, this happened a few years after the foundation of Roosterteeth.

Before the SlowMoGuys, Gavin joined the community forums of Roosterteeth, eventually becoming one of the site Moderators. Through a series of events shortly after (including the creation of the SloMoGuys), Gavin ended up getting ready to head over to Texas. 

“It sucks that you can’t come with me, Dan” 

Gavin and Dan were both getting prepared to fly out of the country, though while Gavin was heading to Texas, Dan was flying off to protect the country; he was in the army and had been called for duty.

Dan smiled as he replied “You’ll be fine Gav. It’s not like we won’t see each other again in a few months, right?”

“I know, it’s just... I don’t know if I’ll be able to talk to them as easily as I did when I first met you.” Gavin answered with the beginning of a frown on his face.

At this, Dan turned to Gavin. “Hey, look at me Gavin. You said that they are a company that is into video game’s too, right?”

“Yeah, but I-”

“Then you have nothing to worry about, you’ve seen how they are on screen and while listening to the podcasts. Well, from what you told me anyways, so I’m sure they can’t be that hard to talk to.” Dan pulled Gavin in for a hug. At that moment the hug was the best feeling in the world to Gavin. Dan was always there for him when he was feeling down.

Gavin returned the hug, exhaling as he said “I’m gonna miss you Dan.”

Dan tightens the hug and gives a small chuckle “Me too, Gav, me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not gonna lie, I'm still nervous about this story, but I thank you for having read it's first chapter!
> 
> Now onto the random 45 letter word that I still remember! The word is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, the longest word in the English dictionary. You’ll get different meanings of the word depending where you search (they are all saying the same thing, but using different minerals), but I just went the lazy way and took wiki's definition (it sums it up nicely); “A lung disease caused by inhaling very fine ash and sand dust.” ^_^’’’ *Insert ‘The More You Know’ star’ here*
> 
> Hope to see you guys in my next chapter!
> 
> Oh by the way, I'm trying to find out how to show how many chapters I plan on making. If anyone could help me out with that, I would be grateful *rub's back of neck*
> 
> Also! This is unbetaed, and will probably stay that way, so any comments, critiques, and jabs in the right direction would help me out for my next chapter or the next time I plan to make a story!


	2. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin's finally in Texas! What happens to our brave hero!? (sorry, couldn't resist)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray! Second chapter is finished! I'm pretty happy with how this turned out in all honesty. Was not expecting to have as much talking as I did in this chapter, so I hope I'll do just as good in the next chapter! Please enjoy the second chapter of my story!
> 
> [Achievement Unlocked- Hello!](You'll understand after the chapter :P)

_**Everything you need** _

When Gavin arrived at the airport, it was noon, he left the arrival gate and grabbed his luggage off the moving belt. He was in the middle of looking at the crowd of people, also greeting their friends and family, when he heard a voice farther in the line of people.

“Hey Gavin, over here!” a man was waving at Gavin with a sign that had his name on it. As Gavin was walking over, he stopped waving, and instead held his hand out to shake.

Gavin took the hand and shook. “Names Burnie Burns, but just call me Burnie!”

He must have been more tired than he thought, cause Gavin’s eyes widened as he realized who he just met.

“Well I didn’t think I was so important as to be picked up by the CEO himself!” Gavin exclaimed, holding his excitement as much as he could, though doing a horrible job at it.

Burnie chuckled “Glad to see your excited, but I don’t think it’s that special to have me pick you up. Besides, better to be picked up by someone you know then someone you don’t, right?.” He winked.

Gavin blushed and rubbed the back of his neck in an almost apologetic way, but was still giggling a little. Burnie was right with being picked up by someone he knew; He had a few conversations with Burnie over the web (never talked with video though), so he was grateful that it was Burnie picking him up.

“By the way, thanks for picking me up Burnie” Gavin said as he got into Burnie’s truck. But then a thought crossed his mind… “Wait, how did you know it was me in the airport?”

Burnie chuckled “Dude, you really need a haircut or something, because as long as your hair is that long, you won’t be hard to miss! I can’t believe that’s actually your hair in your profile picture!” Burnie ended and was full out laughing by then, with Gavin trying to protest. But soon, he was laughing as well.

The ride to the office started off pretty great, with Burnie telling Gavin about what he had planned for the brit. Gavin was actually pretty excited about it: they were planning on letting him direct an entire season of Red vs. Blue! The conversation didn’t go anywhere after that though, as the brit found himself bouncing in his seat with excitement. 

_Where does this kid get his energy, the sun!?_ Burnie thought to himself, he was actually really happy (though he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t surprised too) that the brit was this excited, but he couldn’t join in the excitement, mostly because he didn’t have that kind of energy when he was Gavin’s age, let alone now, years later. So Burnie just decided he’d tell him his second piece of news once he was done bouncing. _Let’s test just how much energy he has at the next news I have for him…_ He smirked as the thought crossed his mind.

Unfortunately, his test would have to wait till another time; When the adrenaline of finding out he was going to be the director wore off, Gavin found that he was getting pretty tired. 

_That plane ride must have done a number on me, guess it won’t hurt if I rest my head on the window for a bit…_

With that thought in mind, the rest of the ride was relatively quiet, with Gavin laying his head on the window, not really paying attention to the occasional words coming from Burnie’s mouth. He just nodded his head to make it look like he was paying attention to whatever Burnie was explaining.

“Welcome to Roosterteeth Gavin!” Burnie exclaimed.

When they reached the office, he was officially introduced to the rest of the Roosterteeth team, most excitingly, the other co-founders; Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Gus Sorola and Joel Heyman. Some light conversation was passed around (he even got to use the XBox set-up and saw how they made their internet series!) and by the time the day was over, it was obvious to everyone in the company that Gavin would be an excellent addition to the team. And just like that, Gavin was officially a member of Roosterteeth. 

He realized that Dan was right: he would be able to handle living here.

Speaking of which…

“So, I guess I don’t have a place to stay…” Gavin mumbled to no one while he was sitting at the table in the company’s kitchen. It was pretty late, and almost everyone had already left for the evening. He must have mumbled louder than he thought, because his body gave a jolt in surprise when he heard a reply.

“Didn't you already tell him about this stuff Burnie?” Gavin turned around and saw that Geoff and Burnie had walked into the room and overheard his comment. They took a seat on the other side of the table.

“I’m pretty sure I did.” Burnie turned his head from Geoff to Gavin, “We already talked about this in the truck on the way here: You even nodded your head when I told you about this.”

“Sorry, I must have zoned out when you talked about it.” He left out how he actually zoned out half-way through the drive. 

Burnie sighed as he explained “Well, to make short of what I said in the truck: Geoff lives alone right now, and has enough space to house you while you’re here in Austin.”

“Really!?” Gavin gasped.

“That’s right, so get your bags kid, cause we’re leaving in less than 5 minutes!” Geoff smiled as he and Burnie rounded the table, helped (or in this case, lifted) Gavin out of his seat, and pushed him along to Burnies truck to grab his bags. Geoff went back inside to grab his own bag filled with miscellaneous gaming items, and, after Gavin gave Burnie both a hug and another ‘thanks’ (along with a light blush across Gavin’s face), they were on the road to Geoff’s place in less than 5 minutes, much to Gavin’s surprise… and excitement.

 

_**Is all I’ll have for you.** _

“Welcome to my humble abode kid!” Geoff said with a tired smile on his face. 

“Thanks Geoff.” Gavin replied. Even though they were both tired, the ride to Geoff’s (and in a way Gavin’s as well) was filled with talk about all the things they could do for fun. Having had a tour of the house, and after ‘unpacking’ what he had (“Kid, I’m pretty sure that throwing your stuff on the bed counts as unpacking”), they made their way back to the living room. While they decided on just playing games that night, with a few bevs for Geoff (and even though he’d deny it if anyone had asked him, Geoff gave the underaged Gavin (“It’s only a few months till I’m legal! C’mon, Geoff!”) one as well), Gavin was pleasantly surprised to see that Geoff was actually really good at playing games. 

“Well I better hope I am, it’s my job!” Geoff chuckled at that, causing Gavin to redden at his own silly comment. He seemed to be making them all throughout the day (must have been the nerves), but it just felt different being around one person when saying them instead of in front of the whole company.

By the time Geoff decided to call it a night (Gavin insisted they play a single player game and just switch out every time they died), he found Gavin had ended up curled up beside him on the couch. 

_He reminds me of a cat…_ Geoff chuckled. He got off the couch and, taking as much care as possible, lifted Gavin off the couch ( _He’s as light a one too!_ ) and got him to his room, placing him lightly on the bed. After what felt like minutes to Geoff (it was exactly 2.43 seconds) he knelt down and placed a light kiss on Gavins forehead, causing the young brit to curl even further in on himself. Geoff stood up and started to leave the room. He turned one last time before smiling brightly “Good night, Ki- goodnight, Gavin…” and lightly closed the door, a blush creeping along his face...

\------------------------

“So you want me to join the Achievement Hunters?” Gavin asked.

It was only been two weeks since he arrived, and Gavin had already shown just how much he could do in a small amount of time: he already had all of the season planned out for Red vs Blue, and all that was left was for him to get the rest of the script from Burnie and record some footage using that script. Unfortunately, Gavin was restless, and Gavin ended up heading over to the Achievement Hunters office on those days more often than not. 

Now, Achievement Hunters was actually the name of a side project of the company: Geoff and another roosterteeth employee, Jack Pattillo, had started just to help out fellow gamers collect the numerous achievements hidden around the game worlds. Gavin had actually watched one of those videos to collect an extremely frustrating achievement in one of the many games he had been playing back in England. They released other videos, such as their Achievement Hunter Weekly Updates (or AHWU as Jack had coined it in episode 1) and Gavin had enjoyed them since the first episode, as well as their other series: Fails of the Week and Achievement HORSE. They always made him laugh, even if it wasn’t supposed to be funny (though it always was).

Currently though, Gavin was in a meeting with both Burnie and Geoff, asking if he would like to join them in essentially playing games for a living. 

“It’s up to you” Burnie started “But both me and Geoff agree that you could have just as much fun doing something instead of waiting for another season of RvB to start.” 

“Helloooo earth to Gavin?” Geoff waved his arm in front of himself to get Gavin’s attention.

Gavin snapped back into reality “Oh! Sorry, was thinking back to something…”

“So what do you say, bud?” Geoff asked, with a gleam of hope in his eyes. 

“It sounds great! I look forward to working with you Geoff!” Gavin replied with an excitement no one thought possible. Geoff would deny it to this day, but he gave a little squeal when Gavin agreed to join, and Burnie and Gavin never mentioned it, to which he was grateful.

When he was formally introduced to the other achievement hunter, it was an interesting meeting: with Gavin getting a handshake-turned-bear hug from Jack. 

“Welcome to Achievement Hunter!” Jack pretty much shouted.  
[Achievement Unlocked- Slow-Motion Achievement Hunter!]

“Can’t-- breath…!” Gavin managed to gasp out through the hug. 

When the hug was broken, Gavin was red faced, whether through lack of air or something else was still debatable. Geoff was laughing through the whole ordeal, and Gavin blushed an even brighter shade of red, 

“It’s not funny Geoff, I could have died!” Gavin said, but he couldn’t hide the smile that was slowly creeping onto his face.

Soon the room was filled with the laughter of the three men.

[Achievement Unlocked- I could get used to this]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 is done! Any comments, critiques and pokes in the right direction are much appreciated!  
> So the achievement thing... It was actually something I came up with while at work today. It's a fun little thing I decided to add to my story as a sort of thanks to all you guys (and girls!) who happen to keep reading my story! If anything, it's in there more for wit (or what I find as wit) then the points, but I'm putting it there for authenticity... well, as much authenticity as an imaginary Achievement can have (Caboose's achieveables anyone?)
> 
> My main concern is the breaking of the 4th wall; Should I continue to place achievements as the story keeps going, or should I clump all the achievements at the end of the chapter? Tell me what you think! (I personally am going for the clump, as that way the dynamic of the story wont be destroyed if an achievement suddenly appears in the middle of a serious scene... I pretty much just answered my own question, didn't I? ^_^''' )
> 
> Anyways! here is the list of achievements you guys and girls have acquired this chapter!  
> "Hello!" - 10 gamer score: Read the Author’s Notes  
> Slow-Motion Achievement Hunter! - 10 gamer score: Got a job working for Roosterteeth.  
> "I can get used to this." - 5 gamer score: Read chapter 2
> 
> Current gamer score: 25/? (currently calculating how many points I will have, might be up next chapter ;D )
> 
> P.S: Chapter one technically has an achievement, but it actually ended up being too good to give to you right away, so expect it at the end of the entire story.


	3. Unrequited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gavin, Jack, Geoff and Burnie talk about stuff! (So vague xD)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3! So I was typing this out, and it got out of hand, so i decided to split it into two chapters, that and the second half isn't finished (love is a challenge!) Please Enjoy! If my experiment from the previous chapter doesn't work (the foot notes thing), expect an update on these notes (It wont be huge, i promise!)
> 
> [If you see text in these brackets, it's an achievement! You'll see them xD]

**_I’m forever_**

It’s been quite a long time (about 3 years now I think), and sure, he fooled around, and has his stupid moments, but if you asked anyone at the Roosterteeth office, myself included, they would tell you that Gavin has a heart of gold. And if you asked specific people, they would tell you a little bit more about just how big his heart of gold was.

“He actually laughs at my puns, even when everyone else is boo-ing, that includes you mister!” Barbara mentions to me once, though she poked a finger at me accusingly. I raised my hands in a mock surrender and reply, with as much sarcasm in my voice, “Who me? Noooo, I would NEVER boo at you Barb!” 

“Mhmmm, sure you wouldn’t” Barbara says, with a small laugh escaping her lips.

“Whenever I’m having a bad day, he always seems to pop up and brighten up my day, almost like he knows it’s what I need.” Lindsay would smile as she tells me this fact. Heck, I’ve seen him do that to a lot of people around the office, even me! It’s like he has some sort of “bad-vibedar” on him, and he knows exactly what to do.

“I don’t know why, but the weight on my shoulders gets a little lighter whenever we have our arguments on the podcasts,” Joel would say, “Heh, even when we don’t argue, that same feeling appears.” I have to agree with him on this one, I would always end up in an argument at one point or another with Gavin, and like Joel, I get that same exact weight-lifting feeling inside. I could never find out what it was...

“He actually helped me film a small project in slow motion when I didn’t, and still don’t, understand how that camera works!” Kerry explained to me one day. I didn’t actually know this fact, I had thought Kerry figured it out on his own for the video he made, but that just goes to show how much Gavin helps around here. 

He actually helped me untangle a mess of cords once before we had to do our podcast. Gus wasn’t in that day, so of course something like this would happen that day. Something always does when Gus is away. With his help, we finished in less than a few minutes, and the podcast started a few minutes after that. He really was a lot less lazy than people thought he was! 

“Thanks for helping untangle the cords before this started Gavin!”

“Y-yeah, no problem! Always here to help!” Gavin had replied, and I swear I could see a small blush creep along his face, but I never got a chance to make fun of him for that because-

“Yeah right! Admit it, that’s the only thing you’ve done today!” Joel ended up barking out. We all started laughing, Gavin included. All of us knew the truth of how helpful he was today, but hey: we need to start this off on a high note, right?

But the one place I noticed when Gavin was the brightest, was when he was with Burnie, Geoff, and myself. 

Hi, names Jack Pattillo, work at Roosterteeth, or more specifically, Achievement Hunter, but you already knew that, huh? Anyways, as I was saying, Gavin was always the happiest when he was with us three, whether we we’re getting bevs at the local bar (or the bars a few blocks down if the need arose), or when we we’re celebrating something, with a glorious barbeque held at Geoff’s, his are the best! And I’m totally not being biased about this because he’s my boyfriend, they really are the best. 

Oh yeah that’s right, me and Geoff? Yeah, we’ve been dating since I’ve been here at Roosterteeth. Everyone knew about how quickly we got along, and when I finally asked him out, everyone else was very supportive of our relationship. Especially Burnie:

“I totally called it!” Burnie had shouted when we first told him. I could tell from his expression that he wanted to raise that shout’s volume from 5 all the way up to 11. “I was wondering when one of you lovestruck idiots we’re going to ask the other out.” He started laughing at that, but then sighed very quickly afterwards. 

“Guess I owe Joel 20 bucks then… dammit Geoff, you should have asked first!” 

“I’m shocked and offended that you guys were making bets on us!” Geoff had mockingly gasped out. It was Roosterteeth, bets were going on even when no one thought they were (which, everyone knew there was always at least one bet going on).

“Seriously though, congrats guys, I’m glad you guys decided to finally come out!” He gave us a hug back then, and I swear, I had never felt a hug so tight before in my life as the one Burnie had given us.

But again, back to Gavin, so he was always just a ball of energy around us three, and when we asked how he had so much energy, he’d merely reply with a “Oh you know, the sun gives me plenty of the Vit D to run around with!” He always said that whenever we asked that question (and we asked it quite often), so when he answered with a simple “Oh you know, reasons…” I knew something was up, but I decided not to press any further. 

We wound up in one of our regular bars, and had already ordered our drinks, taking our seats. 15 minutes later found Geoff mentioning that we should head out.  
“But Geoff, I don’t wanna leave!” Gavin had instantly replied, already on his 4th drink. 

“I didn’t mean you, I meant me and Jack! Unlike you two, we actually have to get to work early tomorrow to work on something that we have been planning for months!” I noticed the smirk that Geoff had given the two of them, as Burnie was trying to keep Gavin from falling over. Geoff never told me about any kind of project, but I held as straight a face as best I could.

“Don’t worry Geoff, I’ll bring him home when we’re done here. Why haven’t I heard of this project?” Burnie asked as he was straightening Gavin back to a sitting position.

“It’s a secret, that’s why!” When Burnie finally looked up, I noticed that Geoff had turned away to hide his face, which already had a huge grin on his face: knowing him as long as I did, when Geoff had that expression, it meant he was up to something. We said our goodbyes shortly after, and left the bar. 

When we finally got far enough from the bar, I finally asked Geoff “So what was the real reason we’re leaving early?”

Geoff turned to me and started explaining “You ever notice how close Gavin’s been getting with Burnie recently? Ever think that maybe, just maybe, our favorite little boy has a thing for him?” 

I turned my head to look at Geoff, to say I was surprised would be an understatement: Usually it’s me who catches these things, but here was Geoff, out an stating something that should have clicked in my head a long time ago: Gavin was in love with Burnie.

“Well, I’m surprised Geoff, you got to that conclusion faster than me for once!”

Geoff merely chuckled at that one, so we kept going. 

After a brief moment of silence Geoff gave a sigh. “It sucks that it’s not us he’s in love with.”

I have to agree with him, it did suck. Not like we’re trying to be greedy or anything, but when Geoff introduced me to Gavin, I had already fallen in love with the brit. Geoff had already fallen in love with the brit before that, and had wanted to officially introduce me to the kid. From the way Geoff had talked about him, I knew I would end up loving him just as much. So it was no surprise that we were a bit upset that he didn’t love us in that way.

“Well I’m just glad that out of everyone besides us that he could of fallen in love with, he fell in love with Burnie.” I smiled a response.

“I just hope that Burnie has those same feelings.” Geoff looked away and crossed his arms.

“Awww, is that a hint of jealousy i see coming from you Geoff?” I teased. 

Geoff huffed “Ah shut up Jack! I still want beer, so lets go somewhere else!”

“Heh, sure thing Geoff…” I simply said as I turned back to Geoff and gave him a quick peck on the cheek as we walked down the street.

[Achievement Unlocked: One-sided]

\-----------------------------

So Burnie here, and I’m pretty sure I’ve finally figured out why Gavin’s always been so full of energy around us… and I think it has to do with the fact that he’s been drunkenly staring at me for almost 30 minutes now, trying to spew out words that just wouldn’t come out,. Anytime he opened his mouth, he would either shut it instantly, or spew out garbled nonsense. I didn’t want to assume anything, so I would wait till he told me.

_Geoff, I’m so kicking your ass the next time I see you…_ I thought to myself as Geoff said that both he and Jack had an early day tomorrow with a project, and had to make sure that they weren’t late. I realised only too late that it was a lie, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a sobering up Geoff in the office tomorrow. 

That thought had to be thrown to the back of my mind, as Gavin decided to finally say something: that he was done for the night. And by that, I mean asking me to help him to the bathroom, so that only seconds after reaching a toilet, he decided to empty all the contents he had in his stomach into said toilet. 

“Alright, I think it’s home time for you Gav.” I told him after Lifting up and wiping his face clean of any left over vomit dripping from his face. “Let’s get you to Geoff’s, alright?” 

Shaking his head, he replied “But I don’t wanna. I’d rather go home with you!” I had to give him props, for a drunk, he was at least coherent enough to tell me he wanted to… Wait, What?

“Why would you want to come to my place?”

“Cause it’s a fun place to be!” 

I laughed to myself _Only Gavin could come up with an answer like that in this situation…_

“Well, it is closer than Geoff’s place, and I would really not want you to throw-up in my truck, so I guess you can crash at my place for tonight.” _That would be a bitch to clean if you did._ “I’ll text Jack to tell him what’s going on.” _Seeing as Geoff has most likely had one too many drinks by now._

Gavin raised his hands and cheered like he was kid on christmas day.

When we got back to my place with no problems, (Gavin had sobered up somewhat on the way here, so no puke at all!) I instantly got to work guiding Gavin to my room and getting him comfortably onto my bed. 

_I can handle a night on the couch, not like I haven’t passed out on it before…_

\-----------------------------------------

“Burnie?” Gavin whispered as he was still sitting on the bed.

“Hmm?”

“Well I, um… there’s this thing I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time… Well actually, I wanted to tell you, Geoff and Jack, but they left before I could tell you guys…” Burnie almost missed the last part of the sentence, as he had started mumbling the words by the time he got there.

“What, that you are actually an alien that lives off of the sun?” He jokingly asked through a fit of giggles.

“No you pleb, it’s actually something really important about me.”

Though he couldn’t stop giggling, Burnie faced Gavin and could see he was serious. “So what is it you wanted to tell us?”

“Well, um… the thing is, I kinda, sorta… might have a huge crush on Geoff and Jack.” He finished as he turned a very deep shade of red.

Burnie instantly stopped giggling and stared at Gavin for a long time. Gavin was about to ask if everything was okay before Burnie finally said “Well, I figured you were into dudes, but didn’t think you would fall for Geoff and Jack. Although to be honest, I should have seen this one coming.”

“You’re not angry?” Gavin looked at Burnie with wide eyes.

Burnie tilted his head in confusion “Why would I be angry?”

“Well, it’s just that I’m in love with men who are already in love with each other!” Gavin had started to tear up.

Burnie couldn’t bear to see Gavin looking upset anymore. “Now you listen to me Gavin: I don’t care if you’re in love with people who already love each other. If you love them, then tell them! It can’t hurt to at least tell them how you feel. And if this is because you’re scared about your job here, I can assure you, you’re fine. I’ll make sure of that!”

Burnie leaned in to Gavin and gave him a hug. If it wasn’t there before, he would have sworn Gavin started to blush even more than before. Before long, Gavin returned the hug, sending a feeling into Burnie, who couldn’t quite figure out just what that feeling was.

When they released the hug, Gavin asked “How do I tell them though?”

Only shaking his head, Burnie replied “I think you should figure that out on your own. But first, I think you should be going to sleep.”

Burnie had lifted himself off the bed, but before he could get anywhere, he felt a hand grab his wrist. He turned to see Gavin staring right at him.

“Could.. Cloud you stay with me tonight Burnie?” Gavin pleaded with puppy eyes. There was something else hidden in those eyes, but Burnie couldn’t tell what it was.

 _Okay, that’s not even fair…_ Burnie thought to himself, before finally replying “Sure thing, Gav, I’ll stay with you for tonight.” 

As they tucked themselves in, Gavin positioned himself so that his head was resting on Burnies chest. Giving a relieved sigh, Gavin whispered “Thank you Burnie…” before he drifted off to sleep.

It was then that Burnie figured out what that feeling from earlier was: it was that of a father protecting his child. He wrapped an arm around the sleeping brit, and whispered “Good night, Gavin.” And he too drifted off to sleep, with a smile on his face.

[Achievement Unlocked: When did I get a new dad?]  
[Achievement Unlocked: When did I get a son?]  
[Achievement Unlocked: An Iceberg is big, but we only see it's tip]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, critiques and prods in the right direction are appreciated :D
> 
> Current gamerscore: 60/400  
> [Achievement Unlocked: One-sided] - 10 gamerscore: Or is it?  
> [Achievement Unlocked: When did I get a new dad?] 10 gamerscore: So Burnie’s like a dad to me now, right?  
> [Achievement Unlocked: When did I get a son?] 10 gamerscore: So Gavin’s like a son to me now, right?  
> [Achievement Unlocked: An Iceberg is big, but we only see it's tip] 5 gamerscore: Read chapter 3


	4. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Gavin finally expresses his feelings to the gents!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 4! 
> 
> I'm so happy I managed to even get this far! Heck, I'm surprised I managed to write a "love" chapter. I'm telling you now though, there will be nothing further than hugs and kisses in my story; I'm not ready to write smut! I had a hard enough time trying to type this one out to be honest (you may even notice, but hey, we all start somewhere, right? ;D )
> 
> So you may have noticed in the previous chapter, but I might occasionally change Pov's from time to time. Also! My first chapter predictions of barely using any talking lines is thrown out the window now, as most of the story is gonna be moved along by talking! Another prediction I had was my word count prediction... I was expecting to maybe write 2000 words total for this entire story... yeah my mind decided to escalate that quickly (so happy with my mind about it though :D )!
> 
> But anyways! I once again split the chapter (It just felt so right to cut there!), so hopefully I'll have my next chapter up sometime before the end of next week!
> 
> With that out-o-the way, please enjoy chapter 4! *deep bow*

**_Always by your side._ **

Gavin was in love. But if you read the last chapter, then you already knew that, right?

But Gavin was in love with the two men, and he was scared

It wasn’t that Gavin was scared to tell them that he loved them, it was more that he was scared of the outcome if they didn’t return the feelings, or at least wave them off. Burnie’s words of last night were not forgotten by Gavin; It was true that he was frightened that he might lose his job as an Achievement Hunter, even though Burnie told him he wouldn’t. And suppose he didn’t lose his job: if they didn’t accept his love for them, it would undoubtedly leave a tense air in the room that would cause himself or one of the other two men to crack and that would lead to even more turmoil.

Of course, this is what was swimming through Gavin’s head, and he was currently pacing a hole around the Achievement Hunter office, having gotten there earlier than Geoff and Jack. Burnie had given him a ride to the office, to which he was quite grateful. Although, almost forgetting that you had slept over at another person’s house is another scare entirely, especially if you are in their bed with them. Luckily, Gavin had been light on his drinking the previous night, so he remembered why he was in Burnie’s house relatively quickly, and that fear left just as fast at it had arrived.

The ride here didn’t help his mood either, as Burnie told him that ‘he would make sure he was safe, like a father looking out for his child.’

Then there was the current situation: why weren’t they here yet? Because of what Geoff had said about getting here early for some project he and Jack were doing, he figured they would have already been here. Not being here means that something had happened; Maybe they slept in, or maybe they were in a car accident on the way home. Gavin was hoping for the former, as he regretted even thinking of the other one.

He didn’t really have time to think about it for too long though, as soon enough, the door to the room had opened, with Jack entering first, followed shortly by Geoff.

Gavin instantly rushed towards them, crushing them in a hug “Jack, Geoff! Thank god you’re here! When I didn’t see you in the office first, I thought something horrible happened!”

Jack laughed apologetically “Yeah, sorry bout that, Geoff ended up getting smashed last night over something pretty stupid, so I ended up having to nurse his hangover the best I could before we came here.”

“Jack, don’t tell him that!” Geoff whined out, instantly regretting it as he lifted his hand to his head. He Recovered rather quickly though, and instantly had a sly grin across his face. “Soooo… how was the rest of your date with Burnie, Gavin?”

Gavin stared at Geoff with confusion “What do you mean Geoff?”

“Well for one thing… you’re wearing his clothes.”

Gavin looked down at himself “Oh that, yeah, he let me borrow them after letting me stay over, something about him not wanting me in sweaty clothes from the day before, so I don’t think that counts as a date Geoff.”

It was Geoff’s turn to look confused, though his was more angry “Oh come on, you had to have put the moves on him at some point, right? It’s not like you aren’t in love with him!”

“W-what!? But, how did…?”

“We figured it out yesterday, what with the way you were staring at him all night.” Jack had replied, though he had a look of disappointment on his face.

“Well, the thing is… I never actually told him I liked him…” Gavin whispered.

“What!?” they both shouted, Geoff shouting way louder than Jack, both taken aback by that statement.

“Well it’s not like he would return my feelings. He sees me more as a son anyways…” Gavin turned to look away from them.

“Hmmm… Well, I think he’s missing out then, because I know I’d date you in a heartbeat if you asked!”

“Geoff!?”

“Oh, don’t even start to act surprised Jack! You and I both know that you would do the same.”

“Well, while that is true, that’s not wh-”

“W-was it really this easy?”

They were brought out of their argument by the sounds of Gavin’s laughter.

“Oh my god, I cannot believe it was this easy!”

Jack gave him a questioning look “What are you talking about?”

“Sorry… sorry, give me a second to calm down.” Gavin said through his laughter.

After a minute of laughter from Gavin’s side, he finally calmed himself down.

“So… you wanna tell us what was so easy now?” Jack asked politely.

“The thing is, when we went to the bar, I wanted to tell all three of you something.” Gavin started, “But then, you two ended up leaving before I could say it, so I ended up only telling Burnie.”

“Well, we’re here now, and we won’t leave this time, I can promise you that.” Geoff gave a short chuckle.

Jack rolled his eyes before staring back at Gavin “So, what was it you wanted to tell us?”

_This is it Gavin… it’s now or never! Get straight to the point, no detours!_

Gavin started to walk closer to Geoff and Jack “It wasn’t just Burnie that I fell in love with.” A grin plastered his face before he closed the gap between himself and Geoff, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He left Geoff and his shocked expression, and turned to Jack.

Gavin saw that Jack had his mouth open, probably shocked like Geoff, but closed it and gave Gavin a quick smile. As Gavin leaned in to give the same treatment to Jack that he did Geoff, he was suddenly grabbed by Jack and was surprised when lips met his. But as soon as it had started it was over, leaving Jack with a grin on his face, and Gavin a shocked expression that quickly evolved to a knowing smile, as he had finally put the pieces together.

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” Jack whispered.

“Me too…” Gavin replied.

“Jack that’s no fair, why do you get a kiss on the lips, while I get just a cheek?” Geoff pouted.

That broke the trance that Jack and Gavin were in, and they both gave a quick chuckle as they faced the pouting Geoff.

“Awww, I’m sorry Geoff, here let me fix that…” Gavin slyly replied, instantly closing the gap between the two once again, locking lips with the older man. It lasted longer than Jack’s kiss, and when they released the kiss, Gavin smiled “There, feeling better?”

“That makes me feel a lot better.” Geoff smiled through the blush that had risen.

[Achievement Unlocked: The pieces are coming together]

“Fucking finally!”

The three men were startled as they heard a voice from the other side of the door. When it opened, they were greeted with a smiling Burnie and Joel.

“See, I told you they would get together Joel!” 

“Yeah you did, and I agreed with you, but you know you owe a me 20 now, right?”

“God dammit! Why can’t I win my bets!?” Burnie groaned.

“Because you make horrible bets.” Joel, Jack, and Geoff all said in unison. The 3 of them laughed.

“Don’t even know why you would even bet that the old men would be the ones to ask!” Joel said through his laughter.

“Hey, who you calling old!?”Jack and Geoff both shouted out, though they still continued to laugh, joined by Burnie.

But he then noticed that Gavin was being oddly quiet, and when he turned, Gavin was staring at him like a deer in the headlights. “Gavin… what’s the matter?”

“H-how much did you hear?” Gavin had asked, and the room instantly quieted.

“I heard enough to know that you wanted to tell us that you were in love with us.” He approached Gavin and trapped the brit in a hug. “But I’m sorry, I already told you on the ride here that I see you more as a son than anything else.” He broke the hug and then stared at the other two men the brit had loved.

“That being said, if you two hurt him in any way, I will kick your asses.” Burnie gave a short laugh.

“Don’t forget that I’m here Burnie.” Joel stepped up and rustled Gavin’s hair, “Uncle Joel will be popping into the office every now and then to make sure that everything is going alright.” He then stepped in between both Geoff and Jacks heads before whispering so that only they could hear him “Don’t want any weird fantasies happening in here, right?” ending with a grin on his face.

Both Geoff and Jack’s blushes reddened even more, before they both blurted out “We wouldn’t do that!” Gavin stared at them in confusion, and Joel simply smiled and winked at the brit. “Don’t worry Gavin, Uncle Joel’s here to keep you safe!”

“We can do that just fine, thank you very much! Now if you would be so kind as to leave: I’m sure we all have busy days ahead of us.” Geoff grunted as he began pushing the two out the doorway.

Before they left completely, Geoff surprised them by pulling them into a hug “Thank you both so much, I’m glad to have friends like you two.” They got out of the hug and Geoff stared at Joel, “But seriously Joel, please don’t make it a habit to come into the room every hour or something crazy like that, or I’ll start going insane!”

“Ah, but don’t you see? That’s my first step towards world domination!” the three men laughed.

“Alright, let’s get to work Joel. Talk to you later Geoff!” Burnie waved.

“Yeah, talk to you later!” Geoff replied as he turned around. “Hey Jack! Don’t hog Gavin all to yourself, let me in on some of that action!”

As the door to the Achievement Hunter office shut, Joel looked at Burnie and said “Think those three are gonna be alright?”

“Geoff, you asshole!” Followed by a bunch of laughter was heard from behind the door.

Burnie chuckled as he started heading to his own desk in the building, “Yeah Joel, I think they are going to be just fine.”

“But I seriously will be checking in on them.” Joel continued as he followed Burnie.

Burnie stopped before turning to Joel, with a cheshire grin on his face, “And that’s why I didn’t say anything about it.”

[Achievement Unlocked: We are one screwed-up family!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, critiques and prods in the right direction are appreciated! I would really like some for this chapter, and the next chapter in particular, as this was my first attempt at writing love in any way, shape, or form. :3
> 
>  
> 
> Current Gamerscore: 75/??? (I'll figure this out as soon as I get a confirmed amount of chapters xD)  
> [Achievement Unlocked: The pieces are coming together] - 10 gamerscore: So we have our foundation, what's next?  
> [Achievement Unlocked: We are one screwed-up family!] - 5 gamerscore: Read chapter 4
> 
>  
> 
> I feel like my notes are starting to become a story in and of itself...


	5. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who finally appears? ;D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, Chapter 5 is up... well, my brain once again exploded on one idea, and thus I am making it yet another chapter longer: at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up with more than 20 chapters! (though I need to type the rest out to see that, though with the way my climax chapter(s) are going...)
> 
> Oh! And I think I forgot to mention this in the previous chapters, but there are certain people in the company long before they actually were in the company, as far as I know (*coughLindsaycough*) so yeah. And yes, there is some 4th wall breaking in some chapters (very heavy at the beginning of this chapter by the way), so there ;P
> 
> P.S: The 4th wall kinda includes making Ryan bash me, but I tell you now: it’s meant to be funny, alright? :P 
> 
> Anyways!, please enjoy this next chapter! *Deep Bow*

_**Whenever you need a friend,** _

Oh, hello there people! Name’s Ryan Haywood… well actually it’s James, but I’d prefer if you called me Ryan. Since the last chapter of the story, it’s been about 1 year now. Within that year, four men (including myself) have joined the Achievement Hunters: Ray Narvaez Jr. , Michael Jones and Caleb Denecour being the other three: Little spoiler for you guys and girls reading this, the author decided to not include Caleb in the story yet (‘Couldn’t come up with a good reason’ being his pathetic excuse), so don’t expect anything about him any time soon. A pity too, I was looking forward to making fun of him...

Well anyways. Ray was hired for his ridiculous skills in video games (he has the gamerscore to prove it), that, and his achievement guides were pretty entertaining: I ended up watching a few myself. Michael, on the other hand was hired when Jack had found his ‘Rage Quit’ video on Crackdown 2, had shown Geoff and Gavin and decided they needed someone like that: ‘It would be entertaining as dicks!’ Geoff ended up saying. Oh, you’re wondering how I got hired? Well, I was actually hired through Craig’s List… I’m not going through the details on that one. In fact, the author decided that I shamelessly plug watching the Achievement Hunter Panel from RTX 2013 to hear the full story (such a lazy author, sheesh…). 

[Achievement unlocked: Such a lazy author]

Oh, and a certain Lindsay Tuggey (who’s been with the company since before Gavin) ended up getting a place in the hunters as well, something about ‘Some estrogen needed in the room’ or something like that, though she’s usually at her desk in the warehouse editing videos for us: I should know, my desk is right beside hers after all. Though we do occasionally get her filming some behind the scenes footage, which end up great in my opinion.

Alright, time to reconnect the train to the rails! So, back story about Ray, Michael and myself: Ray and Michael were actually dating long before they even got to Roosterteeth. Now, they weren’t exactly living as close as most couples do, (Ray being from New York, and Michael from New Jersey) but they made it work.

Now, I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but I ended up in their relationship when I was hired to work at Rooster Teeth. According to Ray, he told me it was because they found me incredibly attractive. Truth be told, I found the two lads very attractive as well, so it all worked out.

Speaking of attractive men…

“Hey Ryan, up for a night at the bar with the rest of us?”

I looked up to see Geoff staring at me with a raised eyebrow as he asked the question. Guess I wasn’t paying attention to the conversation that had gone on while I was busy putting my equipment away, having just finished recording the last video of the day: a Lets Play that probably wasn’t going to see the light of day till next month (we tend to do that a lot).

“Yeah, c’mon Ryan, you should join us!” Gavin chirped in as he sat on the edge of the couch I called a workspace (when I’m not in the warehouse), “Ray and Michael both agreed to it already. We just need you, and then we can have a proper gents and lads night out!” and lept right back off his spot, only to lean on his desk (if you could even call it that anymore, what with the holes it’s acquired over the last year.)

I turned towards Ray, “You agreed to go?”

Ray just shrugged, “Well, I figure at least one of use should be sober. Might as well come along for the fun.” Ray walked forwards, leaning in to whisper into my ear, “Besides, I wouldn’t want to miss hanging out with those three anyways, don’t you agree?”

I couldn’t say no to that one. After all, Ray, Michael and myself are in love with the other three men in the office (we kept that secret to just us three of course). That love expanded when we found out that they were in a 3-man relationship as well. We told them about our relationship later that day, and I’ll never forget the looks of amusement, shock, and pure joy (from Geoff, Jack, and Gavin respectively) that were on their faces. Suffice it to say, we all left the office that day very content.

“Well, if they don’t mind, I guess I shouldn’t miss out on the fun, right?”

A chorus of cheers resounded, and within just a few minutes, we were on our way to the bar.

\--------------------

“You guys are so damn sexy, do you know that Ryan?”

The night was practically over, as Jack and Geoff had gone over to pay for all the drinks we had tonight: I tried to give them at least some money, but they refused it instantly. Ray and Michael were still dancing like idiots on the dance floor, though I could tell they were ready to go home. And then there was myself and Gavin, who currently had his arms wrapped around my arm.

I just chuckled at the brit, “So I’ve been told by many people, now including you.”

“Yeah, but you know... Geoff, Jack and I talk about it all the time, and we all agree that you guys are sexy.” The way he had slurred his words, I could tell that his brain-to-mouth function was out the window; How he even managed to drink 7 beers and stay conscious still surprises me.

Of course, just as I think about it, I see his eyes closing as he rests his head on my shoulder, “Well thanks I guess... you all good there Gavin?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” he sighs, “I just wish we could all be in a relationship together…” he finished, body going limp.

The blush was instant on my face. He wished we were together… he wished that ALL of us were together! “Gavin? Wh-what do you mean? What are you saying?” As if I needed clarification on what he just said. I nudged the brit to try and get his attention, but all I receive in response was a light snore.

Before I could worry about it anymore, Geoff and Jack returned, and Ray and Michael shortly after. “So, were all paid up and ready to go guys.” Geoff said just as he noticed Gavin on my shoulder. He chuckled, “Did Gavin drink himself to sleep again? I swear, the kid never learns.” 

Jack stood beside me and picked the sleeping brit up without waking him, “Well he timed that perfectly, I guess we’ll see you guys tomorrow then?”

“Y-yeah… see you tomorrow…” Was all I could answer. They looked at me with cocked eyebrows, and I felt like they were gonna ask if anything had happened, but they just shrugged and said their goodbyes to us one last time, before finally leaving.

Once we reached Ray and Michael’s shared apartment, it was decided that I was going to stay over. I live alone in my own apartment you see, but it was farther away than theirs, so some days I stayed over at their place (at some point I even got my own dresser for some clothes when I did stay over). Of course, I should have known they had a different reason for having me stay, other than the fact that ‘It’s dangerous to drive this late at night.’

“So, you wanna tell us what’s up?” Michael began as they stared at me from their spots on the couch, across from the chair I was currently sitting in.

“Huh? What do you mean?” I asked as nonchalantly as possible.

“Oh don’t even try and pull that one on us tonight Ryan. We know somethings up, seeing as you didn’t even respond to us on the drive back here.”

“You guys were asking me something?”

“Our point exactly.” They replied simultaneously.

I sighed, might as well get straight to the point, “Gavin, Jack, and Geoff think were sexy, and Gavin even said right before he passed out that he wished we were all together…” The stunned silence from the two boys across from me made me start to shift uncomfortably in my chair. 

After what felt like forever, Ray was the first to say anything, “Gavin wants us all to be together… as in all six of us ‘in a relationship’ together?” 

I nodded in agreement, “As far as I could tell. And from what Geoff once told me, anything that Gavin says while drunk tends to be true.”

“So, what’s the plan?” Michael said as he to recovered from his shock.

“What plan?” I ask in confusion.

“Cut the bullshit Ryan. Ray and I both know you already have a plan to get us all together.”

“You guys know me too well.” A smirk spread across my lips, “Well, seeing as you guys are asking…” I move to sit beside them, telling them the plan, grins spreading across the lads faces as I continued to explain.

Tomorrow, operation ‘Get everyone over for fun’, would begin...

[Achievement Unlocked: Operation 'G.E.O.F.F.']

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, critiques and prods in the right direction are appreciated!
> 
> Current Gamerscore: 90/???  
> New achievements unlocked!  
> [Such a lazy author] - 10 gamerscore: Why are you so mean to me Ryan!?  
> [Operation 'G.E.O.F.F'] - 5 gamerscore: Read chapter 5


	6. G.E.O.F.F

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation Get Everyone Over For Fun (G.E.O.F.F) is underway!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! After 4 separate moments of writers block (I got surges of inspiration then suddenly slammed into a wall), chapter 6 has finally arrived! I'm happy but also not happy with the way this turned out; I really like some parts, but am not fond of others (but not to the point of hate, they just don't feel right). Also, as this is technically part 2 of the previous chapter, they share the same phrase in the song (Whenever you need a friend)
> 
> Oh and there's a part (you'll see it with all the '------' that happen), where it skips to the next scene suddenly (you'll understand, don't worry :D )
> 
> Anyways! Please enjoy this, the next chapter *deep bow*
> 
> Oh! and before i forget, I'm editing the last chapter so that it's 1 year, instead of 3. After thinking about it, I found that that's a REALLY long time. Just letting you know ;)

It was early in the morning when Gavin, Geoff and Jack entered the office (Jack having pulled into the lot mere seconds before the other two). They were surprised, to say the least, when they saw that Michael, Ray and Ryan had all arrived before they did.

“-so we clear on the plan for today?” They heard Ryan as he finished up whatever conversation he was having with the other two lads.

“What plan?” Geoff asked as they entered the room, “Actually wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know what you guys do during the time you’re alone.” he shivered as if to emphasize.

Michael and Ray gave a small chuckle as Ryan looked at the three men that just arrived, “Well, aside from the plan for tomorrow of my dick in their mouths, (‘God fucking DAMMIT Ryan! I said I didn’t want to know!’) -we were actually hoping that you guys might like to join us for our monthly ‘Special movie night’ at Ray’s and Michael’s?”

Jack was laughing at Geoff’s reaction to Ryan’s activities with the 2 boys, when he decided to ask “What do you mean by ‘special movie’?”

“It’s a movie we choose to watch that night, but what we do is mute the video, add subtitles, and act out the scenes however we want,” Ray explains, “But! We can’t just derail the movie with random phrases like ‘I want a cheese-grater’ when a guy is singing a song about meeting a girl in New-York.”

“It’s actually really fun, but we’ve had one or two movies flop” Michael started.

“I still think shouting ‘I’m on a boat Mother-fuckers!’ was, while very humorous, uncalled for in the love scene with Jack and Rose.” Ryan stated with a silent huff.

“We are _not_ starting that fight up again guys, please.” Ray rolled his eyes at the two men who very much looked like they were about to start arguing.

They were too busy arguing amongst themselves to notice the looks of amusement they were receiving from the other three in the room, currently doing their best to hold back their laughter.

“So you guys re-watched ‘Titanic’?” Geoff held his hand up to stifle his laughter, but to no avail, as he burst out laughing a few seconds later.

Jack and Gavin followed moments later, adding in their own quips about the fact that they re-watched Titanic, and did voice-overs while watching it.

[Achievement Unlocked: Shattered Iceberg]

“Oh god, what other movies have you guys done?” Geoff breathed out, his hand holding his gut to keep himself steady.

“Well, I can’t remember the ones we did when it was just me and Michael, but since Ryan has joined us, we’ve done Terminator 1 and 2- ” 

“‘I’ll be Back, Bitches!’ Best. Line. Ever.” Michael quickly chirped.

“-as well as Free Willy.”

“Still don’t know how we survived Free Willy without collapsing from laughter.” Ryan said calmly, though he caught the ever contagious laugh from Geoff and joined in.

“We’ve done a few others, but I think you get the idea.” 

Once everyone’s laughter died down to a mostly calm state, Gavin said, “Well I think that sounds like it would be a lot of fun, I’m in!” Geoff and Jack nodding in agreement.

Geoff stared at the clock and sighed, “Alright assholes, while I would love to keep discussing this, we’ve got shit to do, so let’s talk after work, alright?”

\-----------------

“Alright so… what are we doing again?”

Geoff was standing in the middle of Ray and Michael’s apartment, Jack and Gavin standing beside him. They were told after work that they were going there for the ‘special movie night’. They asked if they needed to bring anything, but all they got was a ‘Don’t worry about that, just show up.’ from Ryan.

So, here they were, watching as Ray, Ryan and Michael set up a table of snacks, chairs placed behind it, leaving a big open space in between the table and tv.

Michael looked up from where he just finished helping Ryan move the big couch, “Well, we’re going to be watching a movie in mute, we’ll be doing voice overs only sort of following the subtitles, and we can even act out some scenes if you want.” Pointing to the open area.

“Well I got that part, but I meant what movie are we watching?”

Michael gave a drawn out “Oh” before he answered, “Well, we were going to do Frozen, but then we remembered we all suck at singing.”

“Hey, I have a great singing voice!” both Ryan and Gavin blurted out in response.

“Yeah, you guys have great singing voices…” Jack sarcastically replied.

“Well, I’m sure Gavin is horrible, but Ryan’s is actually very nice when he tries, but that’s one person out of all of us.” Ray said matter-of-factually.

“Anyways,” Michael continued, “So instead of Frozen, we decided we’re doing ‘Wreck-it-Ralph’ cause, you know, video games and shit, plus I know we've all seen it.”

“This is going to be top! But, are we going to be splitting up roles for voices or something?”

“Actually, yes we will Gavin, thank you for reminding me.” Ryan said, as he grabbed a folded paper from his pocket, “We actually finished making a list of who will be doing the voices in the office.”

“So, for the main characters the voice are! Jack and Myself as Ralph”

“Putting team same voice to good use!” Ray shouted.

“Gavin and Ray as Venellope”

“That’s that little girl with candy in her hair, right? _Sweet_!” Gavin laughed, while the others groaned at the horrible pun.

“Gavin, really? Moving on, Michael is going to be Felix.”

“‘You use to be a electrician, it works!’ Still don’t agree with that shitty reason…” Michael pouted.

Ryan chuckled, “And Geoff, you’ll be playing Calhoun and King Candy.”

“Who the hell is Calhoun?” Geoff asked.

“The army chick.”

“Awww yeah, you assholes ain't got nothing on me now! I’m both a king and a sweet alien-ass-kicking bitch!” Geoff cheered.

Ryan spent the next few minutes explaining who would be the minor characters (with all the wonderful comments that went with them), and by the time he finished, the guys were excited to start the movie.

And start it, they did.

“My name’s Ryan, and I’m a mad king”  
“Let’s see. I’m 9 feet tall. I weigh 643 pounds”  
“Got a few animals in my house.”  
“My insanity bubbles very near the surface,”  
“I guess, not gonna lie.”  
“Any whoo, what else? Uh…” 

Gavin grabbed the remote from the table. The film was paused as the guys started laughing.

“Oh my god, Mad-King-Ryan! If this is how it’s going to be, I don’t know if I can survive the film!” Geoff gasped out, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

“Wow… that was the fastest we’ve ever had to pause a film because we’re laughing to much, guys.” Ryan said through a light chuckle.

“Ok...Ok…” Gavin breathed in, “Let’s- let’s continue alright?” as he pressed the play button.

\------------

“Fix it Mogar!” The guys shouted in unison.  
Michael raised his hand in the air, as if he was holding that magic ‘fix-all-the-shit-in-one-swing’ hammer “I can Fix it!”

Ray and Gavin looked at each other with grins on their faces, before they both started tickling the redhead. 

“X-Ray and Vav will stop you!”

“Wha- guys stop it, stop it!” Michael said through his laughter, “I thought you were supposed to help the mighty Mogar against the Mad King!” as he continued to laugh, the gents joining in the laughter.

“Sorry ‘Mogar’, the mad king has us under his control, we can’t stop it!” Ray shouted.

“It’s all going according to plan!” Ryan proclaimed as he began to maniacally laugh.

\-----------

Ryan and Jack had swapped at this point, “It’s kind of hard when no one seems to like you for doing it”

“Aww Jack, don’t be like that! You shouldn’t listen to what others tell you!” Gavin chimes in, using his best Russian accent. “Oh god that accent was rubbish.”

“You did fine bud.” Geoff whispered to Gavin, quickly pecking his cheek in the process.

“Thanks Geoff.” Gavin returned with a warm smile.

“-You must love you.” Michael ended his sentence, having not stopped to listen to the conversation in the background.

“That was a great Zombie, Mi-cool!” Gavin turned to the red head with the same warm smile.

It was then that Jack noticed the slight blush from Michael, but figures it’s just embarrassment from Gavin making that comment. _I’m sure it’s nothing…_

\-----------

The guys found out, to no one’s surprise (and with a little help from the subtitles), that Geoff lived up to being in the military all those years ago.

“Alright, now listen up, because I’m only going to say this once.”  
“That won’t happen outside of this movie with us around.” Gavin had leaned in and whispered to Ray, “Ow, Geoff!”  
Geoff continued after smacking Gavin in the back of the head, “Fear is a four-letter word, ladies.”  
“If you want to take a shit in your big-boy slacks, keep it to yourself.”

“That’s our former military man.” Jack practically moaned out. He loves it when Geoff talks like that.

Geoff hears a very quiet moan coming from someone else, _probably just Gavin…_ , and carries on. What he doesn’t notice, is the sigh of relief that comes from Ray, who couldn’t hold his moan in as well as the other two.

\-----------

“Slick tiddly winking, asshole.” Geoff ends up getting too into it, and knocks Michael down to the floor, kneeling over him in the process.  
Michael, while a little surprised at first, goes along with it, “I’m fix it Mogar Jr. Sir! From the game, Fix it Mogar Jr.”  
Michael gasps. “Holy shit! Look at that high definition. Your face!” Michael reches for Geoff’s cheek. “It’s fucking beautiful.”

Geoff misses his lines, and instead stands up, “Sorry ‘bout that, got a bit too into it I guess.” He laughs nervously, unable to hide his blush. He holds his hand out for Michael which he readily accepts, also blushing, “No, it’s okay Geoff, I think we both got carried away.”

Gavin and Jack give Geoff a confused look, to which he just shrugs, while Ryan and Ray share a knowing smile with Michael.

\----------

A few more awkward moments followed throughout the movie, which included Michael and Geoff getting tangled onto the floor during the Laffy-Taffy scene, Ryan having pushed them over claiming it was ‘as if you had fallen in the quicksand’.

“Ah, sorry Michael.” Geoff chuckled lightly as he began to get himself untangled with Michael. 

“It’s fine Geoff, and hell, maybe we can act out the ‘punching’ part, you know, each punch getting us slightly less tangled,” Michael stopped half way through his sentence to look at the worried look Geoff had given him, “I don’t know. Just, don’t hit my face okay?” 

Geoff stares up at the guys, or more specifically Ryan and Ray, with a look that was asking ‘are you okay with this?’ Ryan understood the expression, “Go ahead, if he’s okay with it, we’re okay with it. But I agree with Michael: please don’t hit his face.”

“Uh okay, just, let me know if it hurts before the scene’s over, alright?” Of course, Geoff doesn’t plan to go full force with his punches. In fact, he made sure to let up just before contact, making the force of the punch non-existent.

“Sure thing Geoff,” Michael replies, and he doesn’t even feel the punches. But as Geoff is about to finish the last punch, Michael starts to get up (in time with the movie) and takes the full force of Geoff’s punch. He makes a small grunt-moan and sits back down.

“Ah! Michael, are you okay!? I’m so sorry! You suddenly started getting up and I didn’t react in time and-” the rest of Geoff’s sentence was muffled, as Michael had covered his mouth with his hand.

“Geoff, I’m fine, it didn’t hurt at all.” Michael calmly told him as he began to stand up, holding his hand out for Geoff this time. _It actually felt really good, but I won’t tell him that…_

“That’s good, but we are not doing that again; I don’t want your boyfriends kicking my ass for hurting you.” Geoff turned as he finished his sentence, and noticed that said boyfriends didn’t even look phased at what happened. 

“Honestly, he’s probably suffered worse when Ryan got mad at him that one time he-” Ray began, but was quickly shut up by Ryan. “Let’s not go into that story, alright?”

\----------

And an oddly coincidental spilling of snacks and bodies to the floor during the car making scene from Jack and Ray….

Jack gave a yelp as he fell to the floor on his hands and knees. “Ow… sorry Ray, you okay?”

Ray giggled, before staring right into Jack’s eyes, “Well, I mean matching my character and being covered in candy aside? I’m fine. However, while I do find this quite comfortable, I would like it if I could move again, so could you stand up Jack?”

“Oh.. s-sure.” Jack quickly shot up, embarassment supporting his features.

Ray got up on his own as he began to rid himself of all the junk that got on himself. He looked over to Jack and giggled. “Hey, you uh, got something on your…” He pointed to his chin, knowing Jack would get the picture.

“Oh, thanks…” Jack attempted (and failed) to get the pieces of candy that had wound up trapped in his beard, “Are they gone?”

He giggled a bit more, before grabbing the candy from Jack’s beard, smiling at his work, “There, all gone, your beard is just as perfect as before now.”

Jack blushed and turned away, _Perfect as before? Well, I do take good care of it…_ “Thanks Ray.”

\--------------

The picture finally comes to focus when Gavin and Ryan acted out the scene right after Venellope learns to drive the car.

“And then you think I got a chance?” Gavin asked the question to Ryan.  
“Hmm… tiny.” Ryan replied, placing his thumb and index finger together to emphasize.

It was no surprise to anyone as Gavin hopped around Ryan, shouting out, “Yes, I’m gonna win!”  
He even went so far as to leap on Ryan, embracing him in a hug. Ryan initially stiffened at the sudden embrace, but silently sighed and relaxed into the hug. That of course didn’t last too long, as Gavin noticed the sudden change, and stared up at him, staring into his eyes, searching for something.

“Uh… everything okay there, bud?” Geoff asked, as he and the rest of the guys stared at Gavin with varying looks of confusion.

_I get it now, they did this for…_

He had almost missed the question, but Gavin quickly replied, “Yeah, yeah everything’s fine...” not breaking his gaze with Ryan.

Gavin had apparently found what he was looking for, as he broke the hug right after that, a look of realisation on his face, walking up to Ray and Michael and quickly searching their eyes in the same way he did Ryan’s, almost like it was to confirm the same something.

“I get it now…” Gavin breathed out as he pulled Geoff and Jack into a small huddle, whispering to both of them. The both shared a look of disbelief, but quickly replaced it with giant grins that mirrored Gavin’s.They then turned, and simultaneously stepped towards Ray, Michael and Ryan.

“You idiots.” Geoff gently said.

“You guys didn’t have to go through all of this trouble just to ask us.” Jack quickly followed.

Before he knew it, Ryan was met with a pair of warm lips on his. Gavin was kissing him! It was a short kiss, but he relished the feeling of euphoria it gave him. When they broke the kiss, Ryan turned to see that Michael was sharing a heated kiss with Geoff, and Ray was blushing a deep red, having already finished his (apparently even shorter) kiss with Jack.

“You could have asked us a long time ago, and we would have said yes!” Gavin smiled, knowing that everyone else knew what he was talking about, giving another quick peck to the man in front of him.

“We were just scared that you would have said no.” Ray squeaked.

“Well, I guess we’re all idiots then, because we’ve felt the exact same way.” Geoff said.

“And we’ve felt that way for a long time.” Jack added.

Gavin chuckled as he looked around the room “So, I’m going to guess this was your idea Ryan?”

“How could you tell?”

Gavin gave a warm smile, “Only you could have come up with an idea like this… no offense to the rest of you guys.”

“Totally offended” the guys all respond together, with different levels of sarcasm dripping off their voices.

“Well, with what you told me last night at the bar, it wasn’t hard to think up something.”

“Wait… what did I tell you?” Gavin asked with all sincerity.

“Oh, something about ‘wanting to have all of us in a relationship’.” Ryan replied with a smirk, “Of course, you passed out right after, so I would be surprised if you remembered that at all.”

“Well then, I guess I should get drunk more often if it causes something like this to happen.” Gavin says, returning the smirk.

“NO!” all five men unanimously shout out. And the room broke out in laughter, minus one brit who was pouting.

[Achievement Unlocked: This love comes in 6 flavours!]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's the 6th chapter! Any comments, critiques and pokes in the right direction are much appreciated!
> 
> I have nothing against the Titanic by the way, it's a wonderful movie, but I couldn't watch it a second time without trying to make fun of it.
> 
> So I'm getting better at keeping my post and pre-notes short (hooray, no longer will you read paragraphs before the actual chapter!) 
> 
> Also! I'm sure I've said this before, but it's funny how I said I wouldn't have lots of spoken text in the first chapter, yet this entire story has been driven by spoken text xD
> 
> So on to this chapters achievements!
> 
> Current Gamerscore: 105/???  
> [Achievement Unlocked: Shattered Iceberg] - 10 Gamerscore: So, I’m sure the ship still sank...  
> [Achievement Unlocked: This love comes in 6 flavours!] - 5 gamerscore: Read chapter 6


	7. The mind is a fickle thing. Part A

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was never that simple, was it?
> 
>  
> 
> **Warning! Rape/Non-Con Elements involved!**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay first off, I need to apologize for not posting in almost 3 weeks. The only reason I have just isn't good enough to express how sorry I am that I haven't posted in that long :( (long story short, this chapter is giving me such MAJOR issues right now, that I only have the first half done... yeah it's that bad)
> 
>  **IMPORTANT!!!**  
>  This chapter involves child abuse and/or rape, I want to say it’s not detailed (what with the way I write *rubs back of neck*), but then I’d be lying. I am putting this here because I do NOT want anyone reading this to suddenly have a relapse alright? If you feel uncomfortable, or are sensitive to rape scenes, and still wish to know the gist of what happened in this chapter , I will have a summary in the notes at the bottom of this chapter. That is actually why I have split this chapter into two (literally 7a and 7b). In this part, I will mark when the (in my opinion) detailed rape is coming up, so you can skip to the end if you so desire. I'll add a short info dump at the end, just to tell you who got raped by who (cause that's important for a chapter later in the story!)
> 
> I can't express enough how uncomfortable it was that my first 'smut' I've ever written ended up being dark, seriously. Even worse though, I had originally planned for the rape victim to be 13 instead of 18. I am NOT a fan of child rape at all (I'll read it if it's in a story, but I will cringe), so I had to change it to feel a little less disgusted with myself :X
> 
> *breaths* With all that out of the way, I do hope you enjoy part A of chapter 7! *Deep bow*
> 
> p.s: so much for 'shorter notes' huh? :S

_**I’m never far behind.** _

Hello! It’s great to see you after so long (seriously, the author is so slow). So to get you up to speed, it’s been about a year since me and the guys have been dating (that puts us somewhere in 2014). However, the only people who really know are Burnie and Joel (in which Joel got yet another 20 bucks), the rest of the achievement hunters (Lindsay, Kerry, Caleb, and our new addition Kdin), and a few others within the building (I’d list them all, but there are actually more than you think). We don’t really want the community to know about us until we’re absolutely certain we are ready. Anyways, that’s all I’m giving you, so on to our story!

\-------------------------

It was just another normal day in the AH office; Me and the guys were filming the latest GTA V Let’s Play, to be released much later of course, named ‘Top Fun X’ (You can thank Geoff for that name): Where, instead of bikes, there were tanks, and Kerry had once again joined us for this particular recording, with Lindsay and Kdin (our newest addition to the hunters) doing some behind the scenes filming. Me and Geoff had planned to do this a long time ago, and now we were finally getting to it. 

We were down to the last few minutes of the last round (it was Lads in the air, with the Gents on the ground). Ray had crashed into a building early on, still not having enough experience to drive a jet properly. Michael had ‘accidentally’ rammed himself into Jack’s tank, destroying them both in the process, much to the annoyance of the bearded man (‘I was almost there, fucker!’). Kerry had surprised everyone with a very well aimed shot on Geoff, and destroyed the tank, before he forgot about the telephone pole right in front of him.

Ryan (that’s me) and Gavin were the last in the round, the other men having swarmed around our desks to watch, mics in hand. 

“And it looks like it’s down to Ryan and Gavin.” Geoff shouted into his mic, “But the question is, can Ryan make it to the checkpoint?”

“Or will Gavin inevitably crash into the hillside, like the idiot he is?” Michael added jokingly, receiving short laughs from the others.

It was just another normal day in the AH office; I of course had every intention to win this match, and I wasn’t going to do it by reaching the checkpoint. No, I was going to do it by shooting Gavin. Of course, shooting Gavin out of the air with a jet was hard enough, let alone shooting him down with a tank. You see, Gavin was the best in our group at flying jets: sure he fools around a lot, but when he actually tried, he’d fly circles around us while we were still trying to get off the runway! So suffice to say, I had my work cut out for me.

I had missed Gavin multiple times already, as I could hear the brit laughing in his seat, taunting me with “You can’t get me Ry-bread, I’m too fast!” Not gonna let him get to me… An opportunity had finally shown itself, as Gavin was flying right at me, clearly trying to get me with rockets of his own. I took extra caution as I lined up my shot, and took the shot. 

**-BM Vagabond vaporized GavinoFree-**

[Achievement Unlocked: Tank beats Jet]

“And Ryan is the winner!” Geoff cheered, the rest of the room following suite.

“God dammit!” Gavin yelled in frustration.

It was just another normal day in the AH office… until it wasn’t anymore.

“Ryan raped Gavin in the mouth with his huge cannon.” 

With all the times rape’s been mentioned in this office, I never thought that would be the trigger, after so many years of thinking it would never bother me.

_‘Come on you little shit, suck on it! It’s all you’re good for these days!’_

“It hurt, that’s for sure! I can still feel it.” Gavin added.

_‘So you think you’re smart eh? Well then, with the amount of times you’ve done it, I’m sure you’re smart enough to know how to suck my cock you whore!’_

I did my best to laugh along side them, but they always fell short, and pretty soon I was just staring at the rest of them. I quickly turned from Gavin though, having met his eyes for a brief moment.

_Come on, Ryan, you can keep it together, you just need to hold on for a few more minutes._

I was relieved when we finished the recording, as it gave me an excuse to go back to my desk, with Lindsay close behind. I love the guys in that room (many nights staying at each other’s homes can attest to that), but the longer that I was in that room, with the guys making their innuendos, it made it harder. Being at my desk and talking with Lindsay was nice, but to say it stopped anything from happening would be far from the truth. I could still feel something coming on, and quickly told Lindsay that I would be in the bathroom should anyone need me.

As soon as I had locked the door behind me, I was sliding down the door to the ground, trying not to think about it. But the more I tried to block it out, the further back the memories were that I remembered, until suddenly I was back at the first time it ever happened. 

**Rape sensitive and/or uncomfortable folk please skip this next part!**

.  
.  
.  
.  
.

_I was 18 when it first happened. Me and my dad were living alone, seeing as my mom passed away 2 weeks before. I was exiting the bathroom after a nice shower, a towel covering my lower half, when the door to the house burst open. He had come home that day, drunk off his ass like he had been every night for the past 2 weeks since mom died. I remember him yelling at me and telling me that I was a ‘worthless piece of shit’ and didn’t even try to put food on the table. I fought back saying that I had a job and was trying to help. He had stomped over to me and grabbed me, his hands roughly pushing me to my knees, my head right in front of the zipper of his pants. I tried to fight back, but while I was pretty strong, my dad was that much more. Fear rose up from my chest as I saw him start to undo his pants.  
‘Come on you shit, I’m sure you know what to do, you said you wanted to help, didn’t you? Then you can start by helping me now!’_

_He shoved my face right into his cock, my mouth having been stretched to it’s limits as he forced it as far as he could down my throat (when did he get it hard?). Tears were forming in my eyes as a sudden panic flushed through me and I was left trying to pull back, grasping for the air that was so quickly taken from me. But the man towering over me had other plans, as he gripped harder on my hair, and started to push my head back onto his member. After what felt like hours, with his moans growing louder and my face red from tears and lack of oxygen, I was shocked, to say the least, when I was able to breath fresh air again, stunned as he had removed himself._

_It was never that simple, was it?_

_I was met with a cool feeling on my stomach as I was roughly thrown onto the couch, followed by a weight above me. Whatever words my dad had were lost to me, as all I felt was the sudden pain in my backside. It didn’t take me all that long to realize what had just happened. Within minutes, my dad was a mess of grunts and groans (I was a mess of tears), as he continued to thrust in and out of me, picking up speed until he suddenly took one final thrust, and I could feel him release inside of me. When he finally pulled out, he got up and just walked away with a final warning of ‘Know your place, boy.’ Slamming the bathroom door shut. I stayed on the couch until I heard my dad get out of the bathroom, and then left the house just as fast, undoubtedly going for another drink._

_When I finally decided to get off the couch 15 minutes later, I got up and grabbed the towel that was abandoned (what felt like hours) earlier, and entered the bathroom myself. I turned on the shower and proceeded to wash myself; I felt… dirty. When I reached the point of washing my rear, I flinched as it hurt to touch that area, but continued, I needed it clean, and was left staring down at the water as it changed color to the mix of my dad’s seed and… was that blood?_

I came back from my thoughts as I heard a heavy knock on the door, and realized I had wound up in the fetal position, shaking uncontrollably with tears staining my face.

‘Ryan, please open the door.’ Came the familiar voice of the man he called his boss and boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you made it to these notes, first of all, thank you for sticking with me and this story (I would physically hug you if possible).  
> Any comments, critiques, and prods in the right direction are appreciated.
> 
> So! Achievements first, then the shortened version of the 'rape scene' after!
> 
> Current Gamerscore: 115/???  
> [Achievement Unlocked: Tank beats Jet] 10 gamerscore: but can you hear the ocean with that shell?
> 
> Only one achievement, as this was just part A of a full chapter.
> 
> For those who skipped the rape scene:  
> Ryan was Raped by his father when he was 18.
> 
> And cause they are so close to the rape scene, there are two phrases at the end that you might have missed, so I'll put them here as well:  
> I came back from my thoughts as I heard a heavy knock on the door, and realized I had wound up in the fetal position, shaking uncontrollably with tears staining my face.
> 
> ‘Ryan, please open the door.’ Came the familiar voice of the man he called his boss and boyfriend.
> 
> Seriously guys, thank you if you have stayed with this story. I'm frying my brain right now trying to figure out how the guys resolve this part (this is the other reason I split the chapter in two D: ). So please bear with me as we keep going forward! Also, I apologize in advance, as I may not have the next part out as soon as I want it to :(


	8. The mind is a fickle thing. Part B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two of a (now) four part story arc!
> 
> The guys do their best to get Ryan to exit the bathroom. Will they succeed? Or will someone have to come and save them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mental note: I have to stop saying things in my notes when they aren't true, in which I'm talking about saying chapter 7 (now known as 'The mind is a fickle thing') was going to be 2 chapters, but I have broken it yet again, and have added a 3rd part! 
> 
> [Achievement unlocked: Promises Kept]
> 
> And with that, I hope you enjoy part two of 'The mind is a fickle thing!' *deep bow*
> 
> P.S: Geoff has his reasons... that is all you get from me about this till chapter 10...

“It hurt, that’s for sure! I can still feel it!”

The room was filled with laughter, and as they continued to make horrible innuendos Gavin stared at Ryan, only to see the man had gone quiet, unnoticed by everyone else. As Ryan turned to look at him, Gavin saw something in Ryan’s eyes before the man quickly turned away, staring back at his screen.

_Ryan, what’s wrong. Why do you look so… frightened?_

Whatever it was Ryan was mulling over, he was going to find out.

It was 20 minutes later, Ryan, Lindsay, Kdin and Kerry having already left the room, when Gavin finally decided to get his plan into motion. “Hey Geoff, Jack, can I talk to you guys about that project we’re working on?”

The words left his mouth as he started to walk out the door.

Geoff and Jack gave each other concerned looks, before they got up to follow Gavin. “Oh, that thing? Alright, we’ll be back guys.” Geoff replied as they left the office. Before their relationship became six, they had come up with a phrase for the three of them; if they had something important to discuss, they would ask if they could ‘talk about a project’. They never actually expected to use it, as it was for emergencies only, so when Gavin said the phrase, obviously they would wonder what’s up.

As they continued to walk, Jack finally decided to ask, “So what’s going on Gavin? We’ve never used the phrase before.”

Gavin kept walking, entering the warehouse as he replied, “We need to talk to Ryan, I can’t shake this feeling I have that something’s up.”

“Oh, what’s up guys?” Lindsay asked as she looked at the men walking up to the desk. As if she could read their minds (which everyone seriously thought she could with her prediction records), she replied to the silent question they had, “If you guys are looking for Ryan, he said he’d be in the bathroom.” 

“Though it’s already been 10 minutes, so you might want to make sure he’s not puking in there. I don’t want to be the one stuck cleaning it again.” She shivered as she remembered the time she lost a bet and had to clean the toilet after one of Michael’s many ‘eating challenges’ (he ended up winning that one).

“Oh, thanks Lindsay!” Gavin said with a smile on his face, but when he turned to look at Jack and Geoff, he gave them a look that pretty much said _I knew something was wrong._

Jack was the first to reach the bathroom, and knocked on the door, “Ryan, are you alright?” The only response he got was the muffled sound of sniffing.

This time, it was Geoff who knocked on the door, louder than Jack’s, “Ryan, please open the door.”

After a few seconds of silence, they heard the voice of their boyfriend, “D-Don’t worry guys,” He paused to let out another sniffle, “I… I’m fine.”

“You’ve been in there for over 10 minutes, you are not fine.” Geoff stated matter-of-factly.

“That’s… it must have been something I ate for lunch then, but I just finished emptying my stomach.” He sighed as he repeated, “Don’t worry guys, I’m fine.”

Gavin shook his head, not believing his words for a second, “Then why did it look like you saw a ghost back in the office?”

“I-” Ryan started, but stopped before he said anything else.

“Ryan, open the door, _please_.” Jack pleaded

After another moment of silence, Ryan replied, “No.”

Geoff, having lost his patience for his ‘sick’ boyfriend, slammed his fist against the door once, a mix of concern and anger in his voice. “Ryan, open this door now or I will kick it down!”

“G-geoff, what are-” Jack stared wide eyed at Geoff.

“Don’t even start with that Jack, I’m just as curious as Gavin is with Ryan, and I’ll be damned if this shit doesn't want to talk to his own boyfriends about it!” Geoff glared furiously at Jack, even though he knew he didn't deserve any of his sudden burst of anger right now.

“That doesn't mean you get to shout at him for not telling you something!” Jack shouted back, “If he doesn't want to talk about it now, he’ll talk about it when he’s ready!”

“I don’t care about if he’s ready, I want to know now!”

Jack groaned “You’re acting like a spoiled brat!”

They continued on like this for a while longer until Geoff decided to ignore Jack as he resumed banging on the door, “Ryan, open this door!”

“Geoff, that’s enough!” Jack shouted before locking his arms under Geoff’s armpits and pulling him away from the door.

“Let me go Jack!” Geoff fought back, struggling against the hold. But even his military training couldn’t help against the strength of their ‘Gentle Giant’ , kicking the door as he was pulled away, “Ryan, open the fucking door now!”

“N-no! Go away!” Ryan shouted, his voice laced with what sounded like panic.

“That’s it! I’m-”

“What the fuck are you idiots doing!?”

[Achievement Unlocked: Explosions can be beautiful…]

\-------------------

You know, it’s not that I hate noise. Far from it, I enjoy the amount of noise that is always echoing through the building; Whether it’s a heated argument from the animation team about how to properly make a character move, someone banging on a keyboard in frustration as they shout bloody murder at their computer because of a program crashing for a project they were working on, the laughter that came when someone (obviously) did something funny, or the cheers coming from the success someone made. I especially liked listening to all of those noises (if not more) coming from the Achievement Hunter office, as they tend to be heard from anywhere in the building, and were the most calming to me, as odd as it may be to anyone else.

However, the noise I was hearing from the guys right now (more specifically, Geoff and Jack), had me, as well as the rest of the people in our current meeting of what to do in one of the episodes of RvB, concerned.

“Is that Geoff and Jack?” Matt asked from his side of the room, “Sounds like something’s going on out there.”

“I’ll go see what’s up.” as I stood from my seat, “We’re pretty much done here anyways, right?”

“Yeah, we can finish up the rest. Go see what those assholes are doing.” Gus replied, the bite in his voice less than normal as he shooed me out of the room.

On my way to their office, I bumped (more like got rammed) into Gavin.

“Oh Gavin, one of the people I was looking for. Look, I wanted to ask-” I didn't finish my question as I noticed the panicked look on Gavin’s face, “Gavin, what’s wrong?”

“Burnie!” Gavin gasped out, grabbing hold of my arms with wide eyes staring at me. “Ryanstrappedhimselfinthebathroomforsomereasonandwontcomeoutandgeoffandjackarefightingandidontknowwhattodohelpmeburnie!”

I stared at him bewildered, “Gavin, relax. Breath, slow down, and try that again, okay?” I told him as I began rubbing his back with my hand in an attempt to calm him down, which worked as he slowly calmed himself. “So, let’s try that again, alright?”

“S-sorry Burnie,” Gavin sniffed, and for Gavin to show signs of crying, that meant this was something serious, “So, Ryan’s been acting really weird after our last recording. I don’t know why, ‘cause he hasn't told us anything, but I could tell something was wrong, and when we went to go check on him, we found out he locked himself in the bathroom. But now Geoff is threatening to kick the door down, and Jack and him are fighting, and I just really want to know that Ryan’s alright. I mean, he said it was just because he was puking, but I could hear sniffles behind the door; that doesn't happen when you puke, does it?” As he finished, he collapsed onto my chest, and began to cry. All I could do was hug him tightly. _You idiots are in big fucking trouble even after I fix this…wait…_

“Did you say, you heard Ryan sniffle?”

“I know right? I've never since knowing him ever heard Ryan show any sign of crying, it scared me.”

“The last time he did that was… SHIT! Gavin, come on!” I shouted as I bolted to the bathroom, gripping Gavin’s arm tightly as I pulled him with me.

“B-burnie? Burnie, what’s wrong!?” Gavin asked as we reached the scene: Jack was red in the face, holding back a raging Geoff.

“Ryan, open the fucking door now!”

“N-No! Go away!” I could hear Ryan shouting.

“That’s it! I’m-” I didn't let Geoff finish his sentence, as I bolted forward, releasing Gavin’s arm.

“What the fuck are you idiots doing!?”

“Burnie! Can you help me calm this motherfucker down?” Jack shouted.

“I just want answers from my boyfriend who decided to lock himself in the bathroom!”

“Well seeing as everyone and the annex could probably hear you,” _even if there’s practically no one here today_ I thought to myself, “it’s not hard to come by to try and sort this shit out.” I began as I pointed to Geoff, “And I’m going to start with you, Geoff. But seriously, listen to Jack and calm the fuck down before I start."

Slowly, and I mean slowly, Geoff finally calmed down enough that Jack released him. “Fine, I’m calmer, now hurry up so I can get back to worrying about Ryan.”

“Alright, that’s the first problem here. If this” I swung my hand around, “is what you call ‘worrying about Ryan’, I would hate to see how you handle being angry at him, and for that matter, the rest of the guys.”

Geoff opened his mouth to say something, but I didn't give him the chance.

“Second, you decided that the best course of action to resolve this situation was to shout at the top of your lungs at your boyfriends. Fuck, when Gavin found me, he was on the verge of tears!” It was at this moment the guys realized that Gavin had left at all, and all at once the anger from the guys was gone.

“Gavin, you-” Geoff tried once more to say something.

“I’m thinking of many ways to kick your asses for that particular problem, but right now that’s not important. What is important, is the man who currently has himself locked in the bathroom, and for a very good reason. And that leads me to my final point…” I turn and knock on the door.

“Ryan, I know why you’re in there. It’s not my place to tell them, but you guys are making it the only real choice left. So I give you two options: Open the door and tell them, or I will.” I said in a calm, but stern, tone. Living with the guy taught me how to handle this situation... even though I never thought I’d have to deal with it again after all these years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Insert maniacal laughter here* Expect a flashback chapter involving what Burnie says at the end at some point ^_^
> 
> Comments, critiques, questions, emoticons, pictures of wet bread... anything will be helpful in making this story (hopefully) easier for me to write :D
> 
> Current Gamerscore: 135/???  
> [Achievement unlocked: Promises Kept] 10 Gamerscore: Are signs of hope for the future!  
> [Achievement Unlocked: Explosions can be beautiful…] 10 Gamerscore: Until someone gets hurt.


	9. The mind is a fickle thing. Part C

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Burnie tells the story that has Ryan shaken up, and a bit more.
> 
>  
> 
>  **Mentions of Rape/Non-con** (very small, but still enough to warrant this)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP! My mind had like a giant boost of something tonight and, and within 2 hours, I doubled the chapter length (go brain, it's your birthday, we're gonna party like it's your birthday... well technically that was May 1st, but whatever!)
> 
> Anyways! Part 3 of the 4 part arc, but this is the last part of 'The mind is a fickle thing.' (aka, chapter 7, which is now 7, 8 and 9 xD) I am SO glad I have this chapter done! Seriously, 9 weeks for 3 chapters is just, wow...
> 
> Anyways, Please enjoy! *deep bow*

The sound of a door unlocking was officially in Geoff’s top 5 list of ‘sounds he likes to hear’ (the other four not needing to be mentioned).

Ryan sitting down beside said unlocked door as it opened, arms wrapped around his legs and staring at the guys with fear, was in his top 3 of ‘sights he never wanted to see again’.

“Oh Ryan…” He heard Jack hesitate, watching as the man fought against himself from moving forward, staring longingly at Ryan, not knowing how to handle a situation like this.

“Burnie, please… don’t tell them…” Ryan choked out as he crashed into Burnie, hugging him tightly, as he stared up with pleading eyes.

Burnie, having experience when Ryan was like this, ran soothing circles on his back, matching his gaze. “Ryan, they need to know, you’re hurting them just as much as you’re hurting yourself.” Ending the phrase with a gentle glance that said it will be alright.

“What do we need to know?” Geoff asked, brow furrowed in concern.

“Burnie, please… don’t…” Ryan repeated with the same pleading look, but his voice was drowning in fear.

Burnie sighed, “I’m sorry Ryan, but you have left me with no choice.” hugging the man tightly before he faced the other men in the hall, “Take a seat, this might take a while.”

Had they not locked the door behind them, most people would probably laugh at seeing 5 grown men sitting on the bathroom floor. Of course, they probably would have their ass handed to them in a nicely wrapped box sent via express mail if they did laugh, if Geoff or Jack had anything to say about it.

“I guess I’ll start at the beginning.” As he gave Ryan a reassuring squeeze.

\------------------

_When I first met him, it was when his family moved in to town. They were going down the road introducing themselves to the neighbors._

_While our parents talked about whatever it was parents talked about back then, he tugged at the bottom of my shirt._

_“Well hello!” I greeted cheerily, “Name’s Michael Burns, I’m fifteen years old.” I go to lay on the grass, and motion for the kid to join me. “What’s your name?”_

_“My name’s James Haywood.” He replied in a shy voice, joining me on the grass, and I notice that he’s holding a toy. “Um, I’m… seven years old.”_

_“Well that’s a very nice name, James.” I point to his toy, “So what have you got there?”_

_“Oh. This-” James began as he held up his toy, a stuffed brown cow “is my friend, he doesn’t have a name, so I just call him ‘Cow.’”_

_“Hmm, well why don’t we give him a name?”_

_“Really?” He looked at me with a curious look. “But, what should we name him?”_

_We sat there thinking of a lot of different names; Charles, Alvin, Trevor, even Bob, until I came up with a great idea, “Why don’t we name him after our street, Edgar?”_

_“Edgar? Edgar…” he stared at the toy as he said the name, and grinned, “Yeah, I like it. Thanks Michael!”_

_“Burnie.” I corrected him._

_“What?”_

_“My friends call me Burnie, so you can too.” I respond, smiling as warm a smile as I could._

_“Does that mean we’re… friends?” His eyes widen when I nod. Next thing I know, I’m lying on my back, James’ head buried in my chest, hugging me tightly._

_“I’m so glad I made a friend!” He cheered._

_We sat there talking and laughing, when James’ mom walked up to us. “James, we just finished introducing ourselves to the rest of the neighbors, it’s time to go home.” She gave me a warm, knowing smile, “Say goodbye to your friend.”_

_“Awww but we’re having so much fun.” James argued, but stood up and walked towards his mom._

_“And I’m sure you can have just as much fun with him another time, like after school, which you start tomorrow.” She stated as she walked beside James._

_“I’ll see you tomorrow James!” I called._

_He quickly turned and waved. “Bye Burnie!”_

\------------------

“Wow,” Jack breathed out with surprise, “So you guys have known each other since you were kids. And you were still going by James?”

“Yes we have. And yes he was” Burnie nodded, giving Ryan a light squeeze.

“So that’s where you got the name Edgar?” Gavin looked at Ryan, a reassuring smile on his face, “I think that’s bloody adorable.”

“Thanks.” Ryan replied, and if they looked closely, they could see him blushing.

“That still doesn't tell us why he locked himself in the bathroom.” Geoff huffed, still not quite calm.

Burnie sighed, “I was getting to that.”

\------------------

_It’s been 3 weeks._

_3 weeks since I finalized the purchase, and was ready to move into my new house. 3 weeks since I stayed with my dad for a few extra weeks before I got settled into my house._

_3 weeks since I could no longer hear the voice that always matched my own mom’s voice in concern whenever either of us hurt ourselves when I was over at his place._

_3 weeks since I had lost someone I could confide in, besides James, when my own mother died years ago in a car accident. 1 week since I found someone else to confide in; two of my (very close) friends, Matt and Joel._

_3 weeks since Mrs. Haywood; my best friend James’ mother, and practically my second mother, died._

_James called me the night she died, and I was at the hospital faster than I ever thought I could manage. I hugged the (now 18 year old) kid tightly with one arm, and had my hand on his dad’s shoulder, to which he gripped tightly._

_The doctors told us that she had something called ‘Ischemic Heart Disease’: a disease that the doctor said affected 1 out of 100 people. The doctor explained that her heart wasn't getting enough blood or oxygen, because her arteries that carried those two things were blocked. Her heart just… stopped._

_I decided to stay at my dad’s house for a few weeks, to help James and his dad get through the ordeal. James came by every day after work, and even when he left, he was calling or texting me, until we both decided to go to sleep._

_2 weeks ago, he mentioned how his dad had been drinking non stop since his mom died. He wouldn't throw anything, but he just locked himself in his room, until he left late at night to go for more drinks._

_It’s been 1 week since I’ve seen or heard from James. I wanted to talk to James, as I was worried something had happened. I was on my way over to their house, when I looked through the window of their house. To say I was shocked at what I saw would be an understatement. It was James, he was on the floor, with cuts and bruises littering his body. But the worst part was the man on top of him: Mr. Haywood. His own father was raping him._

_I phoned the police to tell them about it, and they said they dispatched the nearest officer to their location, and would be there in a few minutes. The operator on the line told me to not go into the house, but I wasn't about to listen to that; my best friend was in trouble, and I sure as hell wasn't going to wait for the cops to arrive to save him. I burst through the front door, which ended up being unlocked, and tackled his dad to the ground. He must have been a lot more drunk than I realized, because he got knocked out from just that._

_“B-burnie??” I turned to meet the terrified eyes of James, before he ran to me and hugged me tightly, tears falling from his eyes. “Oh god, Burnie! Thank you, thank you, thank you…”_

_We stayed like that till the cops showed up. Long story short, I told them the situation, and they arrested Mr. Haywood. James told me that this wasn't the only time this week that he had raped him. I was still upset that I only just found out now, but I was relieved to find out that his dad only started to rape him this week, as it meant that James didn't go through this for so long without me noticing._

_James was worried that he would have no where to go, but I offered for him to come live with me in my house. He readily accepted, and within 2 days, he was living at my place._

_It was a year later that James told me he would like it if I started calling him by his middle name: Ryan. As he explained it to me, it was a way to let go of the past, to move on and not let it hurt him anymore. I was proud that he was able to move on so fast, and easily agreed to call him Ryan from then on._

\------------------

The bathroom was silent; if someone walked by, they would think someone was playing a prank on them and locked the door with no one inside, it was so quiet. Ryan had stopped sniffling, and he looked at the guys faces when Burnie was done with his story. He didn't like what he saw.

Gavin was doing his best to hide how upset he was, but the tears that were streaming down his face betrayed him. Jack didn't try to hide how upset he was, he had a pained look on his face, and Ryan swore he could hear the gears turning in his head. The worst was Geoff; he had paled, and was staring right at Ryan. Geoff’s eyes were filled with so much pain, anger, sadness, and so many more emotions, Ryan had to look away.

“That mother fucker!!”

The guys jumped at the sudden outburst coming from just outside the door. There was a soft knock on the door shortly after.

“Michael, please… Uh guys, do you mind opening the door for us?” Ryan could hear Ray ask, voice quivering. “Before, you know, Michael wants to ram it?”

Jack, being the closest to the door, unlocked it, and it instantly flew open, with a very angry Michael, dried up tear streaks on his face, and a calmer Ray behind him, although he seemed to be in the same state as Gavin, if Ryan had to guess. Ray silently closed and re-locked the door behind him.

“So, how much of that did you guys hear?” Burnie asked, guessing they were there for most of the story.

“Oh, we were outside the door since you started talking about the past.” Michael quietly fumed, and Ryan could tell he was holding back as much as he could, considering he was shaking rather violently. “And the next time I see that sick fucker, I’m kicking the shit out of his pathetic ass. Fucking coward…” Michael incoherently mumbled from there, but the last word hit Ryan hard. Coward

He gave a dry laugh, “I doubt he was as cowardly as I was.” Everyone’s heads (who weren't already looking) turned to look at Ryan. “What? It’s true.”

It was quiet for a moment, until Gavin was the one to ask the question that was on everyone’s minds. “Why would you say you’re a coward Ryan?”

“Because,” His voice wavered, “I never fought back after the first night. Not once. I was too scared for what would happen if I did fight back; scared he would beat me more than I already was; scared he would throw me out of the house, leaving me with nowhere to live.” He stood up to stare at the guys on the floor, almost shouting. “I felt trapped, and I was too scared to do anything about it!”

Burnie was quickly standing up and leaning in for a hug, which was returned by the man. “Ryan, do you remember what I told you, that first week you moved in with me?”

Ryan gave a small smile. _Well that's progress at least_ Burnie thought to himself. "Of course I remember, 'You are strong, and no matter what happens, even when you're far away, pick up your phone and call me, any time of day.' it's what helped me get past all of that. I told you that when I asked you to call me Ryan, remember?"

“You mean the same night you confessed you fell in love with me?” Burnie gave a warm smile, though he could feel the daggers in the eyes of Ryan’s actual lovers.

Ryan ended up coming to his rescue with a light chuckle, “Well, you did shoot me down in the end, so there’s that.”

“Ryan?” Came a very uncharacteristic hum.

“Yes Jack?” Ryan quirked his eyebrow at the bearded man.

“I have two questions; one, are you feeling better now? And two,” He inhaled, and exhaled, smiling the biggest smile he could, though Ryan saw that even Jack had started to cry, “C-can I hug you now?”

Ryan gave Jack the greatest smile he could before stepping towards the man, “One, I am actually doing a lot better now; I never knew talking about this subject would actually be so relieving.” Ryan turned his head towards Burnie, “By the way Burnie, thanks.”

“The things I do for you guys…” He sarcastically responded, a smirk on his lips.

“And two, yes, you can indeed hug me now Jack.” He took a few more steps forward and crushed Jack in a huge hug.

Jack sniffed, “I’m so glad you’re okay…” breathing out the words as he continued the embrace.

Soon, Gavin, Ray and Michael joined in on the hug, surrounding Ryan with warmth, “We love you Ryan, and we’ll always be here for you, never forget that.”

“So…” Ray began as he continued the hug, “Not that I mind too much, but maybe we can move to the office to continue this? I actually have one more question that requires an answer, and me and my ass would love to be sitting somewhere not cold and hard.”

Everyone gave a small laugh before agreeing with moving to the office. Once they were inside, and settled on their chairs, or in this case, the couch (Burnie sat on a chair, and Geoff opted for standing), Ryan asked, “So, what’s the question Ray?”

“Well, both you and Burnie might be able to answer this, but I thought you told us that you lived alone in an apartment?” The tone not really threatening, “I mean, I’m fine with you living with Burnie, he’s an awesome guy and all, but why did you say you lived alone?”

“Oh, that?” Ryan blushed from embarrassment and gave them a sheepish grin, all while his arm ran up and down his neck, “Well, technically speaking, I was living in an apartment for a while,” _Until the author forgot that he actually put that in there, even when he had this part planned before it. So I ended up lying to the readers. I apologize to you about that._

[Achievement Unlocked: Continuity]

“But I moved back in with Burnie, oh, probably a few months after we started dating? And I was in the company for a few months before that, so I was in the apartment a grand total of around 5 months.” Ending his answer with a shrug.

But then Michael piped in, “So, what ended up being the reason you moved back in with him?”

“Well, I didn't really want to drive for 6 hours total to and from my apartment, and Burnie suggested just living with him again.”

Burnie laughed, “It’s actually funny, because when you told me you were applying for a job here, you didn't even put two and two together and realize that I was one of the founding members.”

Ryan gave a sarcastic sigh, “Yeah, and when I got the job and saw your smug face in the building, I wanted to bash my head into the wall for being so stupid.”

“Well, I guess we know why you never wanted to spend time at your house.” Gavin then tilting his head to the side, “But wait, why did I not see Ryan years ago, when I spent that one night drunk at your place Burnie?”

“Oh, that was... Ryan, weren't you away on a company vacation from your old job?” Burnie turned his head to face Ryan.

“Not really sure what time you’re talking about, but sure, lets go ahead and say yes.” Ryan shrugged.

“Alright, I think that’s enough questions for one night! If you have any more, just ask Ryan another day or something.” Burnie said as he stretched out his limbs, “It’s not like you guys can’t do that.”

The guys all nodded in agreement, and got ready to go home (well, they were already ready to go hours ago, they just had to grab their bags), but then Ryan noticed something; something that, honestly, he was surprised no one even noticed till now, “Hey guys, where’s Geoff?”

They all stopped what they were doing and looked around to realize that, yes, Geoff was not in the office. Ryan noticed that Jack was reading a piece of paper, a frown on his face. “Jack…?”

Jack sighed before he began to (re)read the note out loud, “Not feeling really good, gonna head home. Tell Ryan and Jack I’m sorry for yelling at them, and to Jack: could you bring Gavin home tonight? To Ryan, Ray, Michael and Burnie: have a good night. From Geoff.” scrunching the note up and quickly shoving it in his backpack, he turned to face the rest of his boys (and Burnie) “Well, I guess we should call it a night.”

“Yeah…” Came the immediate replies, and everyone began their quick hugs (plus kisses for everyone but Burnie). Ryan and Burnie left first, seeing as Burnie still had to grab all of his stuff from his own office. The remaining four split up when they reached the parking lot, quickly saying bye one last time. “Tell Geoff goodnight from us, k guys?” Ray shouted out before hopping into the car with Michael.

The ride back to the house was quiet, and Jack didn’t really know what to do. They were greeted by the lights off in the house, and a sleeping Geoff on the couch, the TV running some late night show. Though there was only the light from the TV, both Jack and Gavin noticed the paper laying on the coffee table, and the paper (they guessed was a photo from the looks of it) being tightly held in Geoff’s hands. They also noticed the slightly wet streaks running down his cheeks. Jack picked up the paper on the table, with Gavin looking at it beside him:  
 _Sleeping on the couch today, sleep well on the bed guys, don’t do anything too stupid or loud ;)_

Jack wanted to shout at the sleeping man for the note; that (obviously horrible attempt at pretending he was okay) winking face at the end not working as Geoff intended it to. He snapped out of his short anger when Gavin was looking at the picture that Geoff was holding, “Hey Jack, do you know who these people are?”

Jack stared at the picture and contorted his face in confusion, because he knew who these people were (Geoff had briefly pointed them out one day when he asked about the picture), but he couldn’t understand why Geoff was holding onto it so fiercely; The picture was of a girl and her family that Geoff had known since he was younger, but he didn’t know much more than that.

He shook his head, “I do know the people, but I think we should just let him sleep for now. He’ll probably tell us about it tomorrow, alright Gavin?” the brit nodded in agreement, before quickly kissing the sleeping man on the forehead, “Sweet dreams Geoff…” and trudged to the bedroom. Jack repeated the motion, kissing Geoff on the head and following Gavin to the room, joining the brit under the covers. He had one last thought before he let sleep take him:

_Geoff, what the hell is going on?_

[Achievement Unlocked: Out of the fire, and straight to the sun.]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, critiques, and pokes in the right direction are greatly appreciated, and I would really like to know how I did for this chapter in particular (like, did it feel too rushed? Did it feel like Ryan recovered to fast? those kinds of things).
> 
> Achievement time!
> 
> Current Gamerscore: 175/???  
> [Achievement Unlocked: Continuity] 10 gamerscore: Something that the author really needs to pay attention to. (Ryan you big meanie D: ) It’s your own damn fault! And I've earned the right to be mean with the shit you just put me through!  
> [Achievement Unlocked: Out of the fire, and straight to the sun.] 30 gamerscore: Read chapter 7 (and 8 and 9, in a sense)
> 
> I'll see you guys in the next chapter, hopefully (if my brain doesn't collide with a barbed brick wall) soon :3


	10. Just so's you know...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> not sure if this is how to do it, but I'll do it like this anyways.

Hello fellow readers and/or writers! It's been a while for this story again hasn't it? (just over 4 weeks now... wow time fly's fast)

Well I'm here to let you know that I have no clue when my next chapter for this is going to be up, as I have hit a wall in this story that appears to be made of obsidian... and that's probably due to my self-proclaimed OCD  
Reason I call it self-proclaimed OCD is because I'm not sure if it actually is OCD, but anyways, what's happened is because of the length of the last few chapters, my brain is going through a phase where if I try to write a short chapter, it wont be satisfied unless it's roughly the same length, or at least same quality (I mean, with my brain that will probably work out nicely, but...), so I'm stuck figuring out what I can do to make it a bit longer. 

That might also be the reason my 'Mother, Father and Child' series came into existence, so yay for near impenetrable obsidian walls appearing?

Also, once I post this, I will be going back and shortening a few of the author notes (apparently I use a lot more words than necessary), and edit the tags a bit. 

Anyways! I guess I shall see you whenever I post an actual chapter, sorry to those who have been waiting :(


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